"'When you say you've got the Cloak, and clothes...' said Harry, frowning at Hermione, who was carrying nothing except her small beaded handbag, in which she was now rummaging. 'Yes, they're here,' said Hermione, and to Harry and Ron's utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak... She gave the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled around inside it."

Known contents

Cloak of Invisibility

"Hermione ordered two cappuccinos: as Harry was invisible, it would have looked odd to order him one."

—Hermione Granger orders only two drinks as Harry was under the cloak[src]

Inside her purple bag Hermione had stashed away Harry's Cloak of Invisibility. Albus Dumbledore had asked Harry in the previous year to make sure he had it on him at all times, and Hermione made sure of this by keeping it safe and close to her at all times. Hermione first had to get the cloak out for use when she, Ron and Harry escaped the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Aware that Harry was wanted and that the Death Eaters may follow them, Harry was put under the cloak for protection. Hermione was unable to order Harry anything from the café they took shelter in as she claimed it would look strange ordering three drinks for two people.

The main use of the cloak for the three, however, was to conceal them as they Apparate and Disapparate from one place to another in search of the remaining Horcruxes that Dumbledore asked them to destroy shortly before his death.

Essence of Dittany

"It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you, too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it..."

—Hermione Granger explains how she healed Harry after the attack by Nagini[src]

Another item carried in the bag was a rather small bottle of dittany. Presumably, dittany is a rare plant, as Hermione was only able to obtain a small amount and only used it for the serious injuries she and her friends acquired on their travels. Hermione used the dittany first to heal Ron Weasley's arm when he splinched it disapparating soon after the trio's escape from the Ministry of Magic in 1997. Hermione used it later on in her travels when Harry was bitten by Nagini at Godric's Hollow, where she managed to heal his wounds and stop him from being seriously poisoned. Hermione finally used it on the trio's burns after escaping the Lestrange Vault.

Perkins' Magical Tent

Hermione and Harry outside of the tent.

The most used item Hermione would place in her handbag was Perkins' magical tent. The trio used this tent for several months after leaving 12 Grimmauld Place, camping in all sorts of weather conditions. Inside it had bunkbeds in which the trio took turns in sleeping in and a small cooker. The tent was lost when Snatchers caught them in 1998 and brought them to Malfoy Manor.

After they were rescued the trio stayed at Shell Cottage for a time, and Bill Weasley lent them a similar tent, which they only used once before returning to Hogwarts, just before the Battle of Hogwarts. The spell used to put the tent was Erecto. As well as having to use Erecto to put the tent up, many complex spells had to be used each night as protection around the tent, which Hermione took the task of doing as neither Ron nor Harry knew the spells that well.

Several books

"This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art- it's a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic... if he [Dumbledore] didn't do it until he was Headmaster, I bet Voldemort got all the instruction he needed from here."

Along with the essentials she and her friends would need, Hermione included a large amount of books with the items she would take with her in her handbag for the hunt. Ron commented on it being like her taking a "library" with her.

Change of clothes

Hermione had also packed several changes of clothes for herself as well as Harry and Ron. She asked Harry and Ron to both change out of their wizarding robes to try and avoid drawing attention to them, she handed Ron a pair of old jeans that were too short in the leg, a sweatshirt, some maroon coloured socks. Harry hid under the cloak . Once they had changed Hermione's purple dress, as well as the boy's robes, would be carried around in this bag.

Behind the scenes

Another shot of the draw-string beaded tassle bag in the film adaptation.

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the bag appears not beaded but instead tassley and drawstring. It is also not small enough to be shoved inside a sock and go undetected like it is in the books. Emma Watson described it as being more of a vanity bag you see in Manga.

In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, the bag has many more objects in it, many of them humourous and illogical, such as a giant ice cream cone or a woodpecker. The bag can only be used at certain marked spots, and often provides a object needed to complete a puzzle or access an unlockable.

Two prop replicas of this bag are sold; the first by Noble Collection and the second by TOMY.